Today, the Trump Administration announced sweeping 25% tariffs on steel products (10% on aluminum). The trade remedies are intended to combat what U.S. steel producers contend are unfair and persistent imports of steel and aluminum products from a variety of countries. Said imports, according to various industry officials, undermine the U.S. steel industry and, are therefore damaging to national security.
Here’s a timeline of how the day progressed:
7:12 AM EST: President Trump signaled today’s meeting in an early morning tweet:
Our Steel and Aluminum industries (and many others) have been decimated by decades of unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world. We must not let our country, companies and workers be taking advantage of any longer. We want free, fair and SMART TRADE! (7:12 AM – Mar 1, 2018)
11:00 AM EST: CNBC reported Thursday that a “listening meeting” scheduled for “11-ish today” would not include a formal announcement of the Administration’s decision on steel tariffs.
11:30 AM EST: Steel stocks initially surged in early trading Thursday, according to CNBC. However, the sector pared back its earlier gains when the Administration announced that no decision on Section 232 tariffs would be released today.
1:00 PM EST: CNBC reports the announcement of 25% tariffs. Other sources come online with further reporting, including CBS, New York Times, Bloomberg News, and others.
1:30 PM EST: CNBC reports, “DOW drops 350 points after Trump says steel and aluminum tariffs coming next week.”
The White House did not clarify when a final announcement on tariffs would be made, only that the order would be “signed sometime next week.”
Updated 1:30 PM EST.